Education
This Novel tells the story of Emperor Aurelian’s near-miraculous restoration of the Roman Empire after it had collapsed into three warring remnants. One of the rebels he had to subdue was Zenobia, the beautiful and brilliant Queen of the desert city of Palmyra. The ruthless power politics and intrigue at her court are laid bare through the observations of her personal musician and poet, whom she exploits as her confidante and furtive sexual outlet. The book ends with a plausible counterfactual twist ensuring that the Empire will never fall.
